Installing a clutch for the first time, need help/advise

watsup guys, ive decided to put a light weight flywheel in my car as well as a new clutch. im driving an 02 acura rsx type s. the stock setup has 85000 on it and its time for a new one. Im gonna upgrade, im going with exedy stg 1 clutch kit, and an exedy flywheel. I do all my own work and enjoy it, so i cant justify taking it to a shop and paying for it to get done. i was hesitant at first but i was like suck it up and do it, so… ive read the shop manual and many DIYs on it and i know i can do it, but id like for someone who has done this before to help me out in case of something i missunderstood, or missed altogether. so basically im just wondering if there is anyone on here that would be willing to help me that has experience doing a clutch in my car or something similar (hondas, newer FWDs, etc…) I have a shop with a lift as well so that will make it alot easier.

PM fmfkid. i bet he could help you and lives near by

I’ll be staying posted on this thread,

Same thing, light weight flywheel, centerforce clutch, p plate and lsd are sitting on my bedroom floor waiting to go in my fwd dsm
I’m thinking of doing it myself, not sure if I’m going to have the time. tranny has been out of the car w/in the last year.

I did an RSX couple months ago. it was not too bad of a job to do. def a big job if first clutch but you will be fine just take your time

When I put the 2600 in my AWD DSM, I said “fuck it,” and just tore into it.

It came out 100% the way it should be. The hardest part was getting the tranny back in the car, as it was a bit of a tight fit, but other than that, it was just time consuming. After this, I had the tranny out a handful of times for different things, and it got to be pretty easy. I learned that it’s a LOT easier (on an AWD DSM, anyways,) to just bench press the tranny in instead of using any kind of jack.

But I agree that if you doubt yourself, you should probably get someone to lend a hand.

thanks guys i think ill be cool, just intimidating, but it seems like its easy stuff, just takes a while.

oh and bg, you said you did one, did you do the flywheel on it as well? just wondering if i need to get new flywheel bolts or just reuse the old

If you are doing this yourself, and only want to do it once, get either new OEM or ARP flywheel bolts. Technically you can get away with reusing the stock ones, but because of the time involved to take it all apart again, might as well be overly safe. Make sure you have a torque wrench available as well. It’s a simple job, just make sure you keep track of how things attach, no different that any other car stuff. You’ll be fine.

ok how much are the arp’s? where can i get them, and is the flywheel held on with bolts, or studs woth nuts on them? oh and should i locktite or anti sieze anything after it goes back together?

fwd clutch jobs…:doh:

I did that once… never again…

Is there anything special that I have to do with the throw out bearing? for dsms It is neccassary to use arp hardware when replacing the flywheel with an aluminum one?

your not the 1st to tell me this, seem a common discovery among dsmers

sorry to be hijacking you thread…this i what I know about taking on the dsm.

Throw out bearing has a small steel spring clip holding it in place, it’s orientation to facilitate reinstallation. Grease inner hole of throw out bearing and release fork fulcrum pin.
Is there anything else I must do while installing the t.o.b. ?

and that the Flywheel should be resurfaced to ensure correct seating of new clutch assembly. the flywheel is stepped and should be cut on clutch seating surface and pressure plate mounting surface the exact same amount
extremely important with Center Force Dual Friction, the clutch I’m using
where should I get this done, near cheswick? DLK ?

flywheel and clutch assembly bolts MUST be torqued properly and Loc-Tite applied to them -dsm.org

I re used my OEM bolts, but I had a stock flywheel. I used loc-tite as well. The tranny saw over 9krpm (only one time though) on a mis shift and the flywheel bolts never skipped a beat.

As for the throw out bearing, yea, I just greased it and the pivot ball, put the clip back on, and that was it. I also shimmed the pivot ball very slightly, and I never had a problem with clutch adjustment/engagement.

Yes, the flywheel “must” be resurfaced. Have them step it to .612. Any respectable machine shop should be able to do it absolutely no problem for around 50 bucks, but I wouldn’t let a NAPA or something touch it. I just wouldn’t want to worry about someone with not much experience machining a fairly vital piece of the drivetrain :slight_smile:

Jesse